Social Grooming

[credit_not_blame]

Who: Stacia and you!
What: Fluff (literally) and bonding
Where: New Hire sleeping quarters
When: Several times between Don't Touch That Dial and Daemon plot, your choice
Warnings/Notes: tba


There is a wolf traipsing up and down the corridor of the New Hires' sleeping area, carrying a brush in her mouth. She's larger than you'd expect if you only have experience with dogs, but this wolf is a known quantity -- usually she's a teenage girl, sometimes she's an eight-foot-tall nightmare. But right now, she is fluffy and hot and absolutely done with dealing with her coat by herself. And while she could request assistance with her words in human form, right now she's in the mood to see who she can bully into brushing her without needing to speak.

Like you. Yes you. You'll do.

Stacia drops the brush at the feet of the New Hire in question and sits down, giving them an expectant look.

Come on: brushie brushie.

Comments

[fuckcable]

Julio looks at the brush.

He looks at the wolf. After a moment, he toes the brush ever so slightly back towards the dog. “I do warrior braids only, because long hair gets in the way of helmets and blades. Rahne took care of her fur. You can too.”

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia picks up the brush and drops it on Julio's feet, then resumes staring expectantly at him. Her tail swishes once across the floor.

She bets this Rahne person is less stubborn about this sort of thing than she is.

[fuckcable]

You must be fucking joking, he thinks. Then, having nothing particularly better to say, he says it. “You must be fucking joking. Your fur looks fine. I’m not a dog groomer.”

He’s never had a pet. The closest he’s come has been temporarily living in the same building as a canine alien and having a lycanthropic friend. Both would be insulted in a way that would be painful, for Ric, if he called them pets. “Who normally brushes your fur?”

[credit_not_blame]

Wolf mouths aren't meant for English, so Stacia instead answers by scratching her ear and letting the loose fur that flies off with the activity be her answer. Then she looks down at the brush again for good measure and cracks open the seal on the puppy-dog eyes. So luminous and sad.

Friends normally help her with her fur, Julio. Because she doesn't have thumbs.

[fuckcable]

It occurs to him at about the same time that she really doesn’t have people here. Sure, most of the New Hires get along well enough, but that’s not a found family like a team or pack.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I know what’s going on here.” He crouches down in front of the wolf without really thinking about it. “Oh, I’m Stacia, I’m a big ole monster so I’m super scary, Mr. Richter. I need to show you so I don’t shock you.”

He’s picked up the brush at some point and jabs it toward her for emphasis. “The big eyes don’t work on me.”

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia's tail moves once in an arc across the floor. Julio can say that the big sad puppy-dog eyes don't work on him, but he picked up the brush. They certainly seem to be getting her the exact results she wants.

She scratches a few more hairs loose, just to emphasize her point.

[drladysounds]

The sight of a wolf coming and leaving a brush in front of Shelley was...not what she expected her day to be. The jungle portion of this trip had left her aware of the existence of giant butterflies and the such threatening people who go outside from the top of the rig, but this wolf looks a tad too small to be an animal from over there who snuck into the rig when nobody was looking. There had to be a perfectly normal explanation for this.

Or maybe it was a new crewmember. Shelley has heard about a few of the nonhumans New Hires, indeed.

Apparently Shelley wasn't too familiar with the fact someone among the New Hires can do this -- there is a lot of stuff she's still unaware of.

"Really? Me? Well if you're sure then I'm not going to say no! I almost feel like a Disney princess"

Well, although usually those feature animals helping you go through your morning routine, not coming to ask for you to groom them. In that case this is almost the reverse of a Disney princess situation. Fine then, she can roll with that.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia yips and does a little dance to indicate that, yes, she has chosen Shelley for the great and wondrous opportunity of helping her get rid of some of this goddamn floof. To further indicate her selection (and to make Shelley feel like even more of a Disney princess, Stacia leans in and rubs her face against Shelley's legs, leaving a few loose hairs clinging to her jumpsuit in her wake.

[drladysounds]

"Oh no! My heart is melting! I'm weak"

Okay this has made her day, she has to admit. Shelley kneels, barely holding back some excitement.

"I really should come up with an explanation if someone else comes..."

Apparently Shelley thinks she'll need to make some sort of excuse to any New Hires who come by and find her brushing a wolf. She has no idea this hardly can be the first time such a thing happens, it seems.

[credit_not_blame]

Yes, success is hers! Stacia presents herself for brushies, making a mental note to give Shelley the rundown afterward. It would probably be more appropriate to do it before brushies, but Stacia really wants the loose fur off of her before it mats or something else horrible. And really, who is she to interrupt someone's joy at the opportunity to revel in Disney Princesshood?

[drladysounds]

Shelley brushes with a little more care than she usually would do such things -- in the end this is a wolf, there's no way she's going to risk making a wolf upset, especially when her neck is within reach of those teeth. She's definitely smiling brightly, looking giddier than she usually is -- and her usual mood is plenty cheerful already, all things considered.

"This is it. This ridiculous rig has finally something worthwhile in terms of experiences. This trip into san apocalyptic world isn't a waste anymore"

This moment certainly is getting added to the bloated list of memorable moments in Shelley's life, in her opinion! Perhaps it's more mundane in nature when compared to others but hey, anything that brings her a bit of joy is worth adding, she'd say!

[credit_not_blame]

As careful as Shelley is being, she's still getting a lot of fur. Stacia stretches luxuriously as the stuff comes off of her in drifts. Shedding season is bad enough back home when it comes on gradually, but the abrupt change in temperature and humidity here has been murder.

Once she's content with the amount of brushing she's received, Stacia climbs to her feet and gives herself a shake, sending loose hair flying. Some of it lands on her nose and she sneezes but it doesn't come loose. Ugh. She shifts back to Homid so she can pluck it free with her fingers.

"That is so much better," she says, then winks at Shelley. "Thanks."

[whethertheyshould]

Ian knows who Stacia is, of course. She reminds him a bit of his own daughter, actually, so when she comes to him for brushing, despite the fact that she has transformed into a wolf, he smiles and picks up the brush.

"Having a little trouble keeping the mane in order, hm?"

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia yips and wags her tail when Ian picks up the brush. Since her mouth isn't suited for English in this shape, she answers his question by scratching at herself with a hind leg, each brush of her claws resulting in a small puff of loose fur.

She doesn't need a winter coat to keep her warm anymore, so it's all got to come off.

[whethertheyshould]

"Oh, I, I see," he replies with some amusement, and approaches. He starts with a rough pass over Stacia's head to her neck, then repeats the motion. "Let me know if I'm brushing too hard," he says. He figures with her size and her level of excess hair it won't bother her, but he says this just to make sure.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia's always liked having her hair brushed, and having fur only means that she now gets to have that as a full body experience. She closes her eyes and leans into the brushing, but she does wag her tail and yip in acknowledgment of Ian's instruction. But he's right, wolves are sturdy creatures, and Garou even more so.

[whethertheyshould]

Ian smiles as he continues to brush Stacia's fur. He's glad to be making her so happy. He brushes, and brushes, getting more and more enthusiastic about it—

and then accidentally flings the brush halfway across the room as he gives an even more enthusiastic swipe.

"Whoa!"

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia, who'd been zoning out under Ian's ministrations, yelps in surprise at the sound of the brush clattering against the floor. She's on her feet before she realizes what's happening, taking a defensive stance between Ian and the noise, fully prepared to bite the shit out of the source.

...Which is just her brush. Oops.

[poor_unlucky_girl]

"Oh, hello!"

Jennifer has already seen Stacia's wolf form, in fact that was the first form she's seen and only after she met her as a person. That strange memory sharing experience they had Stacia explain that she can turn into a wolf, so Jennifer is twice as aware now that the wolf is friendly.

"There, there..." she pets her like a dog. Then stops abruptly, panicking already about the degree of rudeness that she might have displayed with that gesture.

So she's kneeling, fish eyed, mouth agape and her hand stopped mid air. She glances down at the brush.

"Is that yours?" is all she manages to mumble.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia pushes her head into the petting to indicate her approval of it, leaving fur on Jennifer's hand. She'd built up so much fur over the winter months and it's all coming loose. It's itchy and terrible and Jennifer should absolutely brush it for her.

She looks down at the brush then back up at the other girl and yips an affirmative to her question. Yes that's her brush. Pick it up, Jennifer, accept the duty as laid out before you.

[poor_unlucky_girl]

Jennifer picks up the brush reluctantly and gives Stacia a warm smile.
She gently runs the brush downwards, from between the ears to the tail, following the spine. Wow, there is so much hair!

As Jennifer picks some of the hair from the brush, she curls and mouth and wonders:

"We're going to need something to put all this hair in."

She's used to cleaning everything herself and hasn't quite grasped the fact that are people in charge for keeping the Rig tidy, but even if she had she would have refused to let the hair fall onto the floor anyway, because she doesn't want to be disrespectful to personnel.

[credit_not_blame]

Given that the New Hires are the ones usually responsible for cleaning up the place, that's probably for the best. Stacia's not exactly excited about the Yuck Puddle adding her hair to its already-considerable Yuck either. So she wuffs agreeably and heads off toward the nearest trash can. It's not the most pleasant thing to sit next to with a wolf nose, but she'll deal with it in exchange for brushing.

[poor_unlucky_girl]

Jennifer throws the hair in the trashcan and keeps brushing her next to it.

"So, how have you been?" she asks, as if completely sure that Stacia can talk in her wolf form. Then again, she has had lengthy conversation with the Bucket Knight, which was a scarecrow she made by putting together a couple of brooms and a bucket on top to give him a head. One time the bucket was left on a chair and begged her to put him back on his body. It was odd, but she had to cope somehow.

[greyerrant]

Loken obliges silently. He's somewhat hesitant, though it's clear he knows who she is. He locks eyes with her a few times, but seems... comforted by it all.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia gets brushed, everyone else gets Not-Quite-a-Doggo Time. It's win-win! They don't get a lot of those on the Rig.

She and Loken haven't gotten around to sitting down and talking about their respective wolf things, though Stacia will admit she's plenty curious. Maybe once he's finished this round of brushies, she'll shift back and give it another go.

[greyerrant]

Loken brushies in silence, just glad of wolf/human friendly intimacy in this manner. He doesn't say much, there's a reason the xenos called him the silent wolf.


He's almost more inclined to listen, should she vocalize or shift back and talk.